Democracy at all levels?

  Naxalism is an issue on which different people have diverse opinions. Most of the people, who are not directly impacted by Naxalism, see it as mutiny and insurgency. But looking at the ideological facet, one can comprehend that it isn’t just an armed revolution, but has deep and profound social elements. The Naxalbari upsurge was sparked by the unproductive land reforms, the class and caste strain and the widespread pitiable socio-economic conditions.  The government however perceives it as a law and order quandary. They moreover have tried to put an end to it by force and more violence and thus in the process have wretchedly failed to address the foundation of this movement. Thus the State has failed to devise a long term policy that would cure the movement from its very root.

  Looking from the perspective of the tribals, the root cause of Naxalism is the marginalisation of the poor tribals. Large tracts of land in the forests and agricultural lands of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa etc. are being taken over by the government and given to huge national and multinationals companies for setting up industries. Furthermore the States enforced appalling laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987; Chhattisgarh Public Safety Act, 2006, etc. The latter punishes a person who aids in any unlawful organization or harbour any member of such organization. However it is merely not possible to distinguish between a villager and a Naxalite based on appearance. Thus a villager is considered to be a criminal for even unknowingly helping a Naxalite.

  Furthermore even thinking about committing unlawful act is made punishable under this law. Besides, the State has also been exercising the power of eminent domain, which means compulsory acquisition of land only for a public purpose. Sadly, what comes under public purpose is open to symposium. This leads to setting up of private industries within where the States exercises the eminent domain and then sells the land to the industrialists, in the process displacing the tribals who use the land as their livelihood. This visibly illustrates the “Indian Democracy” at all levels. Another draconian movement called Salwa Judum forced villagers to stay in camps build by the States so that they could be protected from the Naxalites. This led to a large number of refugees. The inevitability of the whole situation, the ‘right of choice’ that the tribals are denied, forces them to resort to arms.

  Over the years the Government has tried to formulate several policies to combat these issues. However the reason behind the failure of these policies is the difference in the model of development. The development model of the Naxal contradicts that of the state and the capitalist. While the State tries to provide good infrastructure to combat poverty in these regions, the Naxals however wants to retain the tribal areas as they are.  Thus the common peasants of these areas are caught between the State and the Naxals and also the Capitalists.